[u][b]-Quick Review-[/b][/u]
Mass Effect is an RPG developed by BioWare and released in 2007, there’s a few things which set Mass Effect apart from “just another space RPG”, the game was developed with the intent to be the first chapter in a game series. So, the world had depth in mind from the start. Also, for the combat sections instead of taking turns where you pause the game to plan out attacks like in KOTOR you’re actively running, gunning, and taking cover in 3rd person mode.
[u][b]Review Video:[/b][/u]
If you don't like reading, or are curious about watching gameplay check out my video here:
https://youtu.be/kKIYeqqNBlg
[u][b]-Detailed breakdown review-[/b][/u]
[b]Story:[/b] You play as Commander Shepherd. Shepherds’ appearance, background, class and first name are all customizable. I decided to embrace the horror of the character customizer as I attempted to make the squarest looking jawline known to mankind and gave him blond spikey boy-band hair. [i](The story for Mass Effect is pretty good, so unless you WANT to be distracted every time you see your characters face, don’t go nearly as overboard as I did)[/i] Mass Effect starts out with Shepherd being sent on a mission to investigate a human colony of Eden Prime to recover an unearthed Prothean beacon. The mission goes wrong when suddenly a Cybernetic race known as the “Geth” attack the human colony on Edan Prime. To wrap up the first few hours of storytelling in Mass Effect, Shepherd and friends go on a galaxy wide quest to stop Saren, a rogue turian Spectre... but first you need to prove Saren is a traitor, then you get to explore/search all over the galaxy for him.
Shepherd and friends will chase Saren all over the galaxy in the starship called the SSV Normandy. In addition to the main quest to stop Saren, there are a number of side missions, codex entries to be collected for even more information on the history and lore of the Mass Effect universe, and lots of dialogue to be listened too from random NPC’s and interacting with the different squad members Shepherd gathers
Much like in Knights of the Old Republic, there is a morality system, but rather than labeling choices “Lightside/Darkside”, in Mass Effect it’s “Paragon” for selfless virtuous choices, and “Renegade” for intimidating violent choices. You’ll unlock unique Paragon/Renegade dialogue options if you make enough choices to get enough Renegade/Paragon points.
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3430067485
[b]Gameplay:[/b] The two main gameplay modes in Mass Effect are: Fighting in 3rd person and having dialogue conversations with characters. I didn’t find the combat in Mass Effect 1 very compelling. At first, I was delighted at real-time combat, when I was expecting KOTOR turn-based combat… However, I quickly lost interest in the cover-based third person shooting and tried to beat the sections as quickly and with as much cheese as possible.
The relation between Character Levels, Gear, and Skills, in regard to doing damage to enemies really didn’t interest me, so I just auto leveled up and equipped whatever new gear I found. The principle of “I see Green Numbers, I equip it” prevailed.
When you’re not running around ducking behind cover and shooting the bad guys, you’ll be running around talking to people instead. Flying from planetary system to planetary system [i](There's a whole set of solar systems you can visit and examine, which at first overwhelmed me but you’re not able to actually land on EVERY planet in a system)[/i]. Sometimes you’ll also need to navigate on the planet by driving around the All-Terrain Vehicle called the “Mako”, sometimes you’ll be unlucky enough to need to fight in the Mako too, my preferred method of combat was to try snipe people from as far as possible and dodge the incoming blaster bolts… before I take too much damage and need to redo the whole section. [i](I’m not bitter, you’re bitter!)[/i]
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=3430067926
[b]Conclusion:[/b] On the whole Mass Effect was a good experience, my first playthrough took me roughly 20 hours… Had I owned Mass Effect instead of Knights of the Old Republic I would have played this game religiously and learned every little nook and cranny. Coming back to this game as a newcomer to the series… I’d recommend Mass Effect to anyone who wants to play a classic title, for nostalgia sake, or for the story/lore of Mass Effect.
